The CHALLENGE to returning warriors and their families

In the American Civil War, it was called “soldier’s heart.”  In subsequent wars, “combat fatigue,” “gross stress reaction,” and “post-Vietnam syndrome.”  For returning Gulf and Iraq war veterans, this extreme and ongoing anxiety disorder, has taken on a new moniker – “post-traumatic stress disorder” or PTSD.

Also called “battle fatigue” or “shell shock,” PTSD has only been recognized as a formal diagnosis since 1980, however, it has likely existed as long as humans have endured trauma.

From homemade land mines to improvised explosive devices (IEDs), chemical burns and laser injuries, the rules of war have changed and so have the wounds.  PTSD and traumatic brain injury have emerged as two signature injuries of the Iraq war, and the nation’s mental-health system will be strained to grapple with needs of returning veterans and their families for years to come.

Current studies estimate that the prevalence of PTSD among returning veterans ranges from 15 to 50 percent.  A Department of Veterans Affairs study released found that 38 percent of more than 280,000 Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans who sought VA treatment received mental-health diagnoses. More than 60 percent of those diagnoses were for PTSD.

Usually the result of prolonged exposure to a traumatic event or series of events, PTSD is characterized by long-lasting problems with emotional and social functioning, and specific symptoms include flashbacks, hyper-vigilance, sleeplessness and depression.

The pressing issue of veterans’ mental health is underscored by the National Institute of Mental Health’s recent commission of a $50-million study to identify risk and protective factors for suicide among soldiers.  Subsequent research indicates that PTSD is associated with higher risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia and a higher risk for having cardiovascular disease risk factors.

Considering PTSD can take months or even years to manifest, the numerous warriors currently completing multiple deployments will ensure that rates of PTSD will only continue to skyrocket in the coming years.

The mental health and well-being of these brave veterans is the entire nation’s problem, not just the Pentagon’s. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have put enormous strains on the men and women of the U.S. military, and we must do more to ease their burden and heal their wounds.

How SOCIAL MEDIA can help address these challenges

More than 1.6 million U.S. soldiers have served since the war in Afghanistan began in 2001, many of whom have been exposed to prolonged combat and multiple tours of duty. Approximately 41 percent of our military forces serving on the front lines in Afghanistan and Iraq are young adults — 18-24 years old.

Called “Generation Y,” or the “Wired” generation, this group has been raised in an environment where information is shared instantaneously and openly among individuals and across cultures.  They have garnered a reputation for being peer-oriented and seekers of instant gratification, qualities fundamentally shaped by the emergence of instant communications technologies made possible through use of the internet, such as e-mail, text messaging, new media and social networking sites such as: Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter.

Generation Y are not simply information consumers, however, they are increasingly content providers, comfortable with all types of electronic tools and skilled at creating, uploading, searching, retrieving and storing knowledge in all its forms.

Despite recent controversy over the U.S. Marine Corp’s decision to ban numerous popular social media sites from its networks over security concerns, a growing number within the Pentagon’s top ranks are finding value in new media tools to disseminate information and bridge distances – whether geographic or cultural.  Top military brass continue to blog directly from the battlefield, The Department of Defense has plans to unveil its new home page complete with social media tools, the Army recently ordered all U.S. bases to provide access to Facebook and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has over 5,500 followers on Twitter.

The digital age is upon us.  The current tools available to our returning war fighters are limited and not as readily available to a new breed of 21^st century warriors. We must harness the power of social media to arm our new breed of warrior with a sophisticated weapon to battle PTSD.

At MetroStar Systems Inc., our proposed solution is the Vision 21 CARE (Vision 21), a social media portal designed specifically for veterans and their families to provide a niche network for information gathering, sharing and dissemination of PSTD-specific information.

Unlike antiquated resources, this source of collaboration and knowledge sharing lives online 24-7, available at all hours from the comfort of home, barracks or tent. Plus, MetroStar’s Vision 21 will provide warriors with the preventative help, information and shared lessons from subject matter experts as well as their peers, while simultaneously assuaging the fear and protecting the anonymity so often cited by suffering veterans as reason for not seeking life-saving treatment.

LINKAGE  between evidence-based interventions and the those who provide services to returning warriors and their families

PTSD is treatable if one recognizes the symptoms and seeks help from a clinical therapist or psychologist. Unfortunately, all too often PTSD goes untreated. Nearly 20 percent of service members who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan report symptoms of PTSD or major depression, yet fewer than half seek treatment, a Rand Corp. study found last year.  Only 48 percent of warriors who meet the diagnostic criteria presently go for help. We must remove work to remove the stigma associated with PTSD by providing a central clearinghouse of information in peer-populated environment.

Comment on the potential of providing a LINK between warriors and resources

A simple Google search for “PTSD” yields an overwhelming and often inaccurate 4,060,000 results. Vision 21 will fulfill a mounting for the 60 million consumers currently turning to the internet to get the medical information they need – researching symptoms, diagnosing illnesses and administering their own ures.  And since research shows that consumer rely primarily on feedback and advice from peers inhabiting these digital platforms, Vision 21 has been conceptualized to harnesses the power of this peer-to-peer dialogue in a portal designed to directly connect families, service members, and health experts, while simultaneously serving as a centralized clearinghouse for existing, valid information resources.

LINK between warriors in a vet to vet service (social networking)

As experienced through previous work with the National Guard on the Resiliency Program, where the foundation of work was based on cognitive behavior therapy and preventative mental health, MetroStar identified that the bulk of knowledge that helps make programs successful —the “electronic” knowledge — is not always found in books, white papers, or briefings but rather it is trapped in the minds of the experienced – current and former scientists, doctors, clinicians, social workers, and those who have faced the realities of the battlefield.

Website can also be a TREATMENT AUGMENTATION TOOL that is portable and will help overcome the barriers to obtaining help (only 48% of warriors who meet diagnostic criteria presently go for help) Social media can be a PREVENTATIVE TOOL

Also, the website is designed not only for returning warriors, but their family members and most importantly the COMMANDERS on ways they can bolster resilience on a preventative basis.

Vision 21 will not provide centralized content from diverse audiences and facilitate communications between those impacted by PTSD, it will serve as a preventative tool and a resource throughout the process.  By removing barriers to diagnosis, such as anonymity concerns, Vision 21 can not only help identify those suffering with PTSD, but assist them by augmenting their treatment and recovery process as well.  Vision 21 will provide streamlined access to help for not only returning warriors, but for their support network -  in and out of the military, including offering commanders with the resources necessary to bolster resilience to prevent additional cases of PTSD.

Visions 21 will provide STREAMLINED ACCESS to help (include your examples here)and the material that will be provided will be mult media

Vision 21 will not only provide information, it will provide help.

Written by Ali Reza Manouchehri, CEO, MetroStar Systems Inc.